Edna Hitch Hitch Bennett

In addition to her parents, Edna was preceded in death by husband, Howard Bennett; five brothers, Howard, Dempsey, Herbert, Johnie, and Alvin Hitch; and two sisters, Mary Shepherd and Lorena Shepherd.

Survivors include three daughters, Kimberly Bennett Chambers (John) of Lawrenceville, Georgia, Shalon Bennett Lowry (Steve) of Pelham, Alabama, and Peri Bennett Jones (Ken) of Helena, Alabama; five grandchildren, Brittany Lowry White (Fred) of Alabaster, Alabama, Alexander Lowry of Pelham, Victoria Chambers of Lawrenceville, and Caleb and Daniel Jones of Helena; one great-grandchild, Bennett White of Alabaster; and one sister, Rebecca Clark of Mechanicsville, Virginia.

Visitation will be at Ridout's Southern Heritage Funeral Home, 475 Cahaba Valley Road, Pelham, AL, 35124 on Thursday, October 15, 2015 from 6-8 p.m., and funeral services will be at 11 a.m. on Friday, October 16, 2015 in the funeral home's chapel in Pelham. The graveside service will immediately follow the funeral Friday at Southern Heritage Cemetery, Pelham. Brother Richard Lehman of Columbia, Kentucky, officiating. Pallbearers: John Chambers, Steve Lowry, Ken Jones, Alexander Lowry, Fred White, Rodney Hitch, Kellie Quin, and Knox Anglin.

Edna Bennett was born in Ella, Kentucky in 1931 to a tobacco farmer and his wife. The seventh of nine children, she grew up with a great respect and love for her parents, strong devotion to her family, fierce love of God and country, and a thirst for knowledge. She was the first in her family to finish high school.

Edna left home at age 18 to become a telephone operator in Louisville, Kentucky where she met her husband. She was married 44 years to Howard Bennett. The two raised their three daughters while following Howard's job at AT&T through the South in Louisville, Nashville, Tennessee, Shreveport and New Orleans, Louisiana, and finally Birmingham, Alabama where they retired. She renewed her work life as Office Manager for Dr. Larry McMillen while in New Orleans, and as a Furniture Sales Rep for Alabama Business Furnishings in Birmingham.

Edna was devoted to her family. Her grandchildren and great-grandson gave her great joy and she said they brightened her days. She loved history and traveled to Ireland and Israel and relished her memories of the places she visited. She enjoyed studying American History and attended Birmingham-Southern College. But in all her travels, she said the farm in Kentucky, her childhood home, was her sanctuary.

Edna loved to quilt, sew, crochet, and in her later years, fish, paint and write. She was thrilled when she caught at 4-pound bass. As she completed each of 15 paintings, she knew she had conquered a skill she had always wanted to pursue. She was the Historian for her women's group, New Seasons. She wrote three novellas, Ella's Story, The Traveller, and Old Town.

Most of all, Edna loved God and her thirst to know Him led her to read the Bible through each year for many years. Her legacy will live on in her family but her absence will be ever felt in their hearts.

Memorial donations may be made to the Galilean Children's Home in Liberty, Kentucky (www.galileanhome.org) or the Renfroe Fire Department, 7191 Renfroe Road, Talladega, AL 35160.